Thursday, November 08, 2018

On Tuesday’s election
night, Republican Representative Mike Coffman lost his bid for reelection in
Colorado’s 6th Congressional district by about 25,000 votes to Democrat
challenger Jason Crow. Notably, Congressman Coffman was the only Republican
member of the House to sign the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution discharge
petition intended to negate the FCC’s Restoring
Internet Freedom Order which repealed the Obama FCC’s Title II public
utility-style regulations imposed on broadband Internet service providers. But Coffman’s
pro-net neutrality efforts apparently did not help him get reelected.

When Coffman
signed the CRA discharge petition in July 2018, he made multiple
statements regarding his disappointment with the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order.

Interestingly, by
signing the CRA discharge petition, Coffman indicated that he agreed with those
who want to restore the Obama FCC's order imposing public utility-type
regulation on Internet service providers.

In a just a few
months, Mike Coffman will no longer be a member of Congress. Some have called his efforts to
cross party lines to become the lone Republican to sign the CRA discharge
petition a “bold” move. I'm sure there were other factors that played a role in
Rep. Coffman's defeat, but taking a position in favor of repealing the Restoring Internet Freedom Order certainly didn't help him.